Friday, July 29, 2016

Dear Respiratory Friends we are happy to invite you to the 24th Congress of the Romanian
Society of Pneumology, at Poiana Brasov!

Dear Colleagues,
Dear Collaborators,

I have the pleasure of announcing the 24th Congress of the Romanian
Society of Pneumology which will take place in Poiana Brasov between
October 5th-8th 2016. This is the natural continuance of the high
scientific events that you have all been accustomed already in the
previous years; therefore it stays in the responsibility of the
organizers to ensure the continuity of values and the promotion of
medical novelty.

Pneumology has met a wide development in the last 25 years in
Romania. The Romanian pneumologists form an exceptional medical
community both from the professional Association’s point of view: the
Romanian Society of Pneumology being one of the most active and prolific
ones of its kind in the country, and from the point of view of the
medical activity: diagnostic and modern treatment according to the
international standards becoming already a constant concern of each
Romanian pneumologist.

What novelties brings this event of Romanian pneumologists? We
propose two directions. The congress will represent a bridge between
generations. First, we will encourage involving the young pneumologists,
because creating the new generations of specialists in respiratory
diseases is essential for the progress of the Romanian field of
pneumology. Next to the young ones we want for the senior pneumologists
to be present, being invitated throught the financial involvement of the
Romanian Society of Pneumology as a humble acknowledgement – of the
track records of the forthcoming, development and promotion of the
Romanian pneumology as it is presented in today’s medical world.
The second direction goes to the theme of the Congres “ Exacerbation –
quo vadis?”, this question refferring to the exacerbation of a series of
pulmonary diseases starting with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
or asthma to infectious diseases with pulmonary interference or
idiopatic interstitial fibrosis.

This direction is addressed to specialists in multiple areas of
expertise – for as the modern and actual approach of exacerbations in
pulmonary pathology is required to be an interdisciplinary one! The
treatment of the respiratory diseases becomes more and more personalized
and involves a rising number or medical specialties. So far, a
specialist was treating A DISEASE. We must learn to treat together,
doctors of different specialties, ONE PATIENT in a particular situation
with a certain pathological identity. Quo vadis? – the path is being
built now. I invite you to define it and to make it together.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Poiana Brasov!

Ruxandra Ulmeanu
President of the Congress
Elected President of the Romanian Society of Pneumology (2016-2018)

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Dear Respiratory friends we are happy to present you Clinical Practice Guidelines 2016: The Diagnosis and Management of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency in the Adult published today in Journal of the COPD Foundation!

Summary of Recommendations

Testing for Alpha-1
Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD):

·All individuals with COPD
regardless of age or ethnicity should be tested for AATD.

·All individuals with
unexplained chronic liver disease should be tested for AATD.

·All individuals with
necrotizing panniculitis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or unexplained
bronchiectasis should be tested for AATD.

· Parents, siblings, and
children, as well as extended family of individuals identified with an abnormal
gene for AAT, should be provided genetic counseling and offered testing for
AATD (see guideline document for special considerations about testing minors).

·For family testing after a
proband is identified, AAT level testing alone is not recommended
because it does not fully characterize disease risk from AATD.

·For diagnostic testing of
symptomatic individuals, we recommend genotyping for at least the S and
Z alleles. Advanced or confirmatory testing should include Pi-typing, AAT level
testing, and/or expanded genotyping.

·Annual follow-up of adults
with at least a spirometry test is recommended.

Computed Tomography (CT) scan
of the chest in the evaluation in those with AATD:

·In newly diagnosed patients
who are symptomatic and/or have abnormal pulmonary function testing, a baseline
CT scan of the chest is recommended.

·Serial chest CT scanning to
monitor progression of disease is not recommended.

Monitoring for liver disease
in those with AATD:

·Monitoring for liver disease
at annual intervals (or more frequently as indicated by clinical
circumstances), with physical examination including focused exam for signs of
liver disease, liver ultrasound, and laboratory monitoring of AST, ALT, GGT,
albumin, bilirubin, INR, and platelets is recommended.

Management of lung disease in
those with AATD:

·Every effort should be made to
prevent exposure to tobacco smoke and facilitate cessation in those who are
smoking.

·Lung volume reduction surgery
is not recommended for individuals with COPD related to AATD.

Intravenous augmentation
therapy in those with AATD is recommended for:

·Individuals with an FEV1
less than or equal to 65% predicted.

oFor those with lung disease
related to AATD and an FEV1 greater than 65%, we recommend
discussion with each individual regarding the potential benefits of reducing
lung function decline with consideration of the cost of therapy and lack of
evidence for such benefit.

·Individuals
with necrotizing panniculitis.

Intravenous augmentation
therapy is not recommended for:

·Individuals with the MZ
genotype of AATD.

·Individuals with lung disease
due to AATD who continue to smoke.

·Individuals with AATD and
emphysema or bronchiectasis who do not have airflow obstruction.

Friday, July 8, 2016

A 67-year-old male patient, lifelong smoker, with a background of asthma since childhood and recurrent ethmoid polyps attended for a routine clinical review. He was only prescribed a salbutamol inhaler, to be used when required. He reported intermittent episodes of shortness of breath with wheezing at night and a progressive deterioration of his symptoms over the previous two years. He was also complaining of cough productive of yellow phlegm, almost every morning. On examination, he was tachypneic at rest, with an oxygen saturation of 92% on room air. He was severely hyperinflated and a bit wheezy on auscultation.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Pocket Guide has been developed from the Global Strategy for the
Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of COPD (2016 Update). Technical
discussions of COPD and COPD management, evidence levels, and specific
citations from the scientific literature are included in that source
document.

Read COPD Research and Practice

COPD Research and Practice publishes basic and clinical research and review articles relating to the development, progression and treatment of COPD and related disorders

Read Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews

Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews publishes original research papers, frontier reviews, drug clinical trial studies and guest edited issues dedicated to clinical research on all the latest advances on respiratory diseases